Saturday, November 30, 2013

So you saw how easy it is to make a Santa hat? Making multiple hats is just as easy, and you will embarrass the dollar store with how inexpensive it is. I think I made 20 hats last year in 2 and a half hours, and the preschoolers loved them!

In lieu of actual fleece, I am using red construction paper and a tiny pattern. I can't get to the fabric store until Monday, but I'm so darn excited to share that I improvised! Proceed....

*I made a mistake! You only need 3/4 yard of fleece and I wrote 1 yard of fleece. Please forgive and make a note of the correction*

Pretend it is fleece!

Getting you oriented. Go with it....

Fold your edges in toward the center, 10 inches to be specific, on either side.

Lay your pattern on the bottom left folded corner. Make sure there is very very little extra fabric outside of the pattern. Like, just the factory edge should be showing. Trace your pattern with a marker.

Flip your pattern up, as shown, lining it up with the marker line you just made. Mark the bottom of the hat's body.Do the same on the right side, making marks for two hats with your marker.

The four hats, marked with numbers so hopefully it is crystal clear.

Cut out your hats, leaving an ample bit of fabric in the center.

Fold your ample fabric down the middle, lining up your edges.

Mark the hat, just as you did with the first hat.

Flip up your pattern and do the same marking as you did with the second hat.

This is what it looks like, and I took the liberty of marking the hat numbers.

There you have it, six hats from 3/4 yard of fleece! Continue as you would with the original sewing instructions.....with one exception! Hats #2, #4, #6 with have an extra seam. Sorry! They turned into 5 seam hats. That long would-be fold has turned into a seam.

So there you have it: 6 hats with 3/4 yard of fleece. Want 9 hats? Buy 1 1/4 yard of fleece. Use the tutorial above to make 3 hats along each fold. 12 hats? Pfffft.....1 1/2 yard of fleece. You're getting the idea! Now go on and be merry and bright!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Last year, I had the distinct pleasure of making Santa hats for the preschool program. The hats were a huge hit! Some of the hats are still being worn....like around my house. Why wouldn't a person simply hit the dollar store for Santa hats, especially 20 of them? For starters, they are felt and poor quality, in my opinion. Second of all, it's more cost effective to make them, especially a couple dozen. Beyond that, this is what I do! And with an easy-peasy pattern like this, it would have taken me far longer to drive to the store.

While making a few for the store this season, it was brought to my attention that a free pattern and tutorial would be nice. Say no more! If you want to make just one or dozens, here is the pattern for you. I made it all so nice and simple, so very little sewing prowess is needed. That means YOU, you brave little novices out there! You can so do this!

IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO MAKE UP TO 6 HATS, BUY 3/4 YARD OF RED FLEECE FABRIC AND 1/4 YARD OF WHITE FLEECE FABRIC. INSTRUCTIONS FOR CUTTING OUT MANY HATS IN THE NEXT POST.

Print out the 3 page pattern here.*note* do whatever your printer needs to do to make sure there are no margins. Either uncheck "fit to page" or pull down the menu for "no margins". Anyway, ensure there are no margins.

Match arrows and tape according to pattern. Cut out pattern.

My favorite method for cutting out the fabric is to lay out the pattern on the fabric, weight it down with canned goods or weights, then trace around pattern with the kids' washable markers. See the STRETCH arrows? Be mindful of the stretch of the fabric going with the stretch orientation on the pattern. Cut inside marker lines. Remember, align the FOLD arrow of the pattern on the fabric fold. Do the same for the hat band on the white fleece, laying it out on the fold, tracing and cutting inside lines.

Two pieces.

OK, let's do our 4 seams. Ready?

Using a straight (8-10 stitches per inch) stitch or a serger, and a 1/4 inch seam allowance, stitch the body of the hat, right sides to the inside, as shown, in one seam. If using a straight stitch, drop your needle at the angle and pivot slightly. If serging, just curve around. There it is....seam number one.

Next, grab the white hat band and stitch the short ends together, right sides inside. That was seam number two.

Slide the hat band over the body of the hat so the bottom edges of both are lined up and the seams are matched.

Stitch that bottom edge all the way around, 1/4 inch seam allowance. Thus, your third seam.

Turn the body of the hat right side out.

Turn the band up at the seam; adjust and finger-press the seam. If you would feel more comfortable, pin the band in place.

Time for that fourth seam! Stitch the band to the body at the edge of the band, securing it to the hat body. A zig-zag stitch is nice, but a straight stitch done 1/4 inch from the edge of the band is good, too.

Four seams! Done!

Hand stitch that pom pom to the end, maybe add a jingle bell.

Who is feeling a bit festive?

Coming up......when you need a bunch of Santa hats......instructions for making this multiply. Just kidding....you don't have to wait! Here it is!

Saturday, June 29, 2013

I remember fondly the days of nursing my babies, not that long ago. I also remember that I was frustrated with not being able to wear the dresses I liked without excessively exposing my udders to the world. Those nursing days are history now and I had forgotten about the dilemma until I started organizing my sewing supplies and ran across the pattern I had designed for a nursing-accessible AND belly-friendly dress back in the day. With summer upon us, I feel for those nursing mommas who want to wear dresses, so I decided to make up a tutorial and scan my pattern. I also like taking breaks from kids clothes once in awhile and making something for grown-ups; keeps things fresh for me.

Let me know how it goes, okay? I love comments and stories.

Ink drawing of dress, courtesy of Mike Antor

My friend, the lovely Danielle, is looking forward to a September baby!

This pattern is 22 pages long. Get your printer, paper and scotch tape ready! Make sure your printer is not set to "shrink to fit" or "fit to page". Each page has a 1" square marker on it. Print the first page and make sure that an inch is indeed an inch.

According to page numbers and how the pages will line up, here's the order it will be in:

Line up page 1 and page 2, matching arrows. Tape in place.

Add page 3 next to page 2, matching arrows; you will have 4 pages across the top. Tape.

For page 5, place it below page 1, matching arrows. Tape,

Continue adding pages, taping in place, using more tape in the areas that will actually be part of the pattern.

And the progress continues....

22 pages total, taped together.

Cut out your pattern pieces according to your size. I designed this for me at 5'5". Adjust for taller gals just by adding to the bottom of the dress. You will have three pattern pieces.

I hereby judge this pattern skill level as EASY!

Time to complete: not too long once you get the pattern taped together. Maybe 2 hours?

For materials, you will need:

2 yards of 60" stretchy jersey-type knit fabric---buy 2 1/4 yard if you are taller than 5'4" or just would feel more comfortable working with extra.

1/4 yard of coordinating rib knit

half inch wide elastic

thread

My choice in fabric, and I just noticed it looks a lot like my blog background! This is a cotton knit from Fields Fabric! You should check them out :)

Wash and dry your fabric first. Do it! If you like to line-dry, hang it length-wise down the middle so it is draped evenly on both sides of the line. It will help when you lay out your pattern later.

Lay out your fabric on a large surface. Take your time and get it all smoothed out. Make folds for your "cut on fold" instructions by folding your selvage in toward the center. Lay out your pattern pieces so they fit AND ensure that the stretch is horizontal!

Here you can see how the selvages are folded into the center and the stretch is horizontal. Yes, I use strawberry jam to weight down my pattern pieces. My pattern weights work well, too, but weren't handy.

VERY IMPORTANT! It must stretch around you and not down your body.

I just realized I forgot to draw <------stretch-------> references on the pattern pieces. Darn it. OK, we'll get though this. The larger pieces marked LOWER FRONT and BACK just stretch horizontally. No biggie.

Laying out pattern pieces, bottom pieces very close to the lower edge of your fabric.

For the UPPER FRONT, take page 3 of your pattern pieces and underline where it says "upper front cut 2", just right under the words "cut 2"; then draw little arrows on either end of your underline. There. See what I did there? ---->

Weight down your pattern pieces with weights or canned goods, as shown. Draw around each piece with a washable marker.

Cut out LOWER FRONT and BACK pieces first. Mark dots and snip notches (see next image). Using the remaining fabric, refold it and fit your UPPER FRONT pattern on the fabric. Weight it down, trace around, and cut. Now you will have 4 pieces (back, lower front, upper front and upper front).

Of note: I used to be afraid of knits. I was told by my mother that they are scary to sew and avoid them whenever possible. So I was wrong! Use a ball point needle, a zig zag stitch if you don't have a serger, and stretching just a tiny bit as you sew. Knits can be very forgiving and a really nice choice, so fear not. Moving on...

Now it is time to cut your rib knit fabric. Mine was a tube of fabric, so I cut down the side so it was a flat single layer. Next, cut it into 2" wide strips. Fold each strip down the center and press so you have 1" wide folded strips. Keep your iron and distilled water handy, you'll be using it soon.

Get out your sewing machine....it's time! Use your #14 ball point needle on your machine and a zig zag stitch. You can also use a serger for a lot of the construction if you prefer.

Stitch shoulder seams, using a 5/8 inch seam using a zig-zag or a stretch stitch according to your machine's guide, or serge. I used the stretch stitch function, you know, the one that looks like lightning bolts.

shoulder seams stitched at 5/8"

Begin pinning the rib knit strips along the UPPER FRONT and around the BACK neckline, then onto the other UPPER FRONT, matching edges, as shown. Stretch the rib knit JUST SLIGHTLY as you pin...not too much. You want it to recover when you are using your dress for its purpose later! I got ridiculously wide rib knit that fits the entire length, but if you didn't, stitch some of your strips together for this length of rib knit-meets-dress.

rib knit strip pinned around the UPPER FRONT, BACK neck, and onto the other UPPER FRONT

wrong side of fabric, showing the stitched edge of rib knit

Stitch or serge edges, then press out to form outside edge.

here, you can see that I pinned rib knit to the long, unnotched edge.

On the lower edge of the UPPER FRONT pieces, pin strips of the rib knit, then stitch or serge.

*If I'm not clear on any of this, please email me or comment and I will see if I can clarify*

UPPER FRONT pieces crossed over on top of the BACK piece

Cross UPPER FRONT pieces again over the BACK piece, matching notches and dots. Pin in place. Set aside, because now....

Let's attend to the LOWER FRONT of the dress. First of all, you are going to want to attach your elastic to the top wrong side as indicated on the pattern. To determine how much elastic is necessary here, take a length of elastic and stretch it across your front, mid-underarm to mid-underarm, just beneath the bottom of your bra. Make sure it is stretched comfortably but snugly as it will be responsible for keeping the lower part of the dress up and supported. Take that length of elastic, add an inch just for good measure, and make the cut. Pin one end of the elastic to the dot on the wrong side of the UPPER FRONT; pin the other end of the elastic at the other dot on the side. So your elastic is pinned right up there along the upper edge of the UPPER FRONT, dot to dot, on the wrong side. Zig-zag stitch that elastic, stretching it as you go so it is even along the upper edge. Nicely done! Admire your work and return to....

LOWER FRONT with elastic zig zag stitched onto top between dots

close-up of the zig zag stitch along the upper edge of the LOWER FRONT

UPPER FRONT/BACK pieces. Lay the LOWER FRONT piece, right side down, matching the dots and notches along the sides. So you will have LOWER FRONT, then UPPER FRONT overlaps, then BACK, from top to bottom. Pin. Stitch sides, using a 5/8 inch seam, from top to bottom. Make sure to catch in the ribbed knit edges in those side seams; I found that to be tricky, but it might just be me. Anyway, good luck!

LOWER FRONT on top of the UPPER FRONTS and BACK, matching notches and dots and stitched down the sides.

Let's attack those arm openings. Remember the great technique mentioned earlier? That's a good one to get this started. Let's do it!

attaching a rib knit cuff to the arm opening....a summary.

I'm cool with leaving the dress hem raw as it won't unravel. It's your call. If you choose to hem, many people would recommend using a double needle and a walking foot. Zig zag is also cool, or just running the edge through the serger. You could even stretch the fabric as you serge and give it that scalloped edge. Ah, the possibilities!

So you see how it crosses over in the front? There is nursing access there....NOT over the top,NOT underneath; right there between the UPPER FRONT pieces (not shown on model).

PS...this is probably a good time to tell you that, in the event that you want this dress really badly but don't want to/don't know how to sew, contact me on the contact form and we'll see what we can do. I've never offered this before, so excuse the bumbling around and the un-savvy nature; I just love to sew and will help make it happen for you. Much love!

the preface....and the lady at the sewing machine

Once upon a time, a tiny little boy named Xander pointed out a tractor moving across a field and proclaimed it "DooDah". Much to Mama Brandy's delight, he continued to declare all tractors "Doodahs". So inspired was Xander by "Doodahs" that after seeing his friend wearing a "Doodah" shirt, he needed a shirt representing the object of his affection..now! Mama Brandy grabbed a boring old t-shirt and her sewing machine, and soon Xander was off running to display his new "Doodah" finery. Mama Brandy loved the results and wanted to try it again. So with her passion for creative sewing and a strong commitment to reduce, reuse and recycle, a star was born! Each garment creation is completely unique, partially or completely handmade from quality recycled, upcycled, salvaged and repurposed materials and durable enough for daily wear. Xander still wears "Doodah" apparel regularly, Mama Brandy encourages everyone to Think Global Shop Local..and they all lived happily ever after!